State officials on Monday acknowledged they’d omitted hundreds of pages of medical studies from packets supplied to a state review panel slated to consider medical marijuana for treating autism according to the Detroit Free Press.
The panel will reconvene July 31 to reconsider autism, officials said.
“I became aware several weeks ago that we hadn’t received a huge number of documents, maybe six or eight hundred pages,” said David Brogren, 61, a retired insurance agent who treats his multiple sclerosis with medical marijuana.
Brogren notifed state officials of the omission two weeks ago and was assured that the materials would be added to panel members voting packets, he said. Yet, at Monday’s hearing in a state office building in Lansing, “I brought in this thick pile of documents that they still hadn’t given to us” — he got them from the petitioner’s lawyer — “and I tossed it on the table,” said Brogren, who moved recently from Bloomfield Hills to Mason, near Lansing.
Related: Pot for kids? Some parents say it’s good medicine
Staffers of LARA — the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs — called for a 15-minute recess, met with lawyers from the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, then offered to provide the missing studies if the panel postponed its hearing to July 31 at 1 p.m., panel member Robert Noiva of Rochester said.
Panel members voted 5-0 to postpone as “the only fair thing to do,” said Noiva, associate dean for medical education at Oakland University’s William Beaumont School of Medicine in Auburn Hills.
“Licensing and Regulatory Affairs provided the information we were supposed to provide and David Brogren wanted the department to provide the reference materials cited” in the petition, said LARA spokesman Michael Loepp. The Michigan Attorney General’s Office referred questions to LARA.
4/20/15
Most adults agree with legalizing medicinal marijuana, but they’re a lot more uneasy when it comes to its use for sick kids.
And most by far — 4 in 5 adults — say kids shouldn’t see adults using it.
That’s according to the latest University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, which routinely asks what’s on the minds of the nation’s moms and dads — from how they’re using social media to what they think of new laws and policies.
It’s not surprising that adults are hesitant when it comes to medical therapies that many believe are still unproven, said Dr. Matt Davis, director of the National Poll and professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at U-M Medical School.
“From my experience as a physician, they commonly mention the lack of testing for testing as a reason for their concern,” said Davis, who as a pediatrician at U-M is not allowed to prescribe marijuana for children.
Michigan is one of nearly two dozen states that permit medical marijuana, but it also has stricter rules when it comes to children using medical marijuana.
The Mott poll is the first to examine parents’ views about medical pot for adults compared to their view about its use for children. It drew from responses in November and December of 2,176 adults — both parents and non-parents.
Davis said responses about adult use of medical marijuana were similar to polls elsewhere, offering “reassurance” that it accurately reflects adults’ views about marijuana’s use for children too.
More specifically, the poll found:
■Nearly 2 in 3 parents say their state should allow medical marijuana for adults.
■Just more than 1 in 3 say it should be allowed for children.
■Four in 5 people say adults shouldn’t be allowed to use medical marijuana in front of children
■1 in 10 said they either have a medical marijuana card or know someone who does.
Some in the audience, including parents of autistic children, labeled the omission an intentional obstruction by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, headed by Bill Schuette, a strong opponent of medical marijuana. Schuette’s staff lawyers initially blocked the autism petition, first filed in May 2014, in a lengthy court fight before dropping opposition in April, said Michael Komorn, a Southfield attorney who successfully argued the case in Ingham County Circuit Court.
